After death at party, venue to turn sports club

Sep 06, 2011, 07:21 IST
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Akshata Shetty

No police complaint filed yet in drowning incident

No police complaint filed yet in drowning incident

The shocking death of 22-year-old Siddarth Agrawal in a swimming pool on Sunday night while partying at a high-profile venue has left several questions unanswered. For one, there has been no complaint registered with the police.

Tragic: Siddarth Agrawal, who drowned at the pool at a party on Sunday night

The police do not have much clue about the deceased and they have dismissed the incident as an "accidental death". While the hospital has kept the viscera of the deceased for chemical analysis, the technician on duty said the cause of the death "has been withheld".

According to Police Inspector Devidas Patil of the Mundhwa police station, a complaint was not filed since it was a case of accidental death. "There hasn't been any complaint filed as it is a case due to drowning," Patil said.

Jayant Pawar, owner, Solaris Club, claimed Agrawal was not dead when he was taken out of the pool. "It's unfortunate that a mishap like this happened at the venue. The place was crowded and had around 300 to 400 people. The boy supposedly dived into the pool. He was alive when taken out, but I guess he passed away at the hospital. It's not true that there were no lifeguards. We did have lifeguards present," Pawar said. "We have around 40 staff members and the next restaurant has 25 people."

Pawar also said that Sunday's party would be the last one at his venue and that he has decided to convert the place into a sports club. "The pool is usually closed at 7 pm. This is the last party at this venue as we are converting it into a sports club for our members," he said.

The body of Agrawal was claimed by his relatives around 3.30 am yesterday from the hospital. Investigating Officer Mangala Modhave admitted they did not have contact details of the family. "We sent a constable to Sassoon hospital when they came to claim the body. But they were in so much grief that they left without giving their details. We just have the contact number of one of his friends," Modhave said.

On whether the statements of Agrawal's friends had been recorded, she replied in the negative. "Most of them have gone to Dhule, so we haven't recorded statements. Inquiries are on at the club where he drowned and the owners have claimed there was an instructor present when he dived into the pool," Modhave said. Asked how Agrawal drowned if someone was there to help, she said she was yet to get the full details of the incident.

A working professional, Agrawal was with Kohinoor constructions and had moved to the city two months ago. A close friend who attended the party said: "We were together swimming. I had seen him dive into the pool and then I joined my friends. I don't know what happened next. We later realised he was missing and went in search of him. We tried to trace a lifeguard but only after 10 to 15 minutes we found one. When he was fished out from the pool, he was already dead."